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During the Korean and Vietnam Wars, there was limited use of the Lazy Dog bomb, a kinetic projectile shaped like a conventional bomb but only about 1 + 3 ⁄ 4 inches (44 mm) long and 1 ⁄ 2 inch (13 mm) in diameter. A piece of sheet metal was folded to make the fins and welded to the rear of the projectile.
The charged particles resulting from the blast are accelerated along the Earth's magnetic field lines to create an auroral display at the conjugate point, [2] which has led documentary maker Peter Kuran to characterize these detonations as 'the rainbow bombs'. The visual effects of a high-altitude or space-based explosion may last longer than ...
A kinetic projectile can also be dropped from aircraft. This is applied by replacing the explosives of a regular bomb with a non-explosive material (e.g. concrete), for a precision hit with less collateral damage; these are called concrete bombs. A typical bomb has a mass of 900 kg (2,000 lb) and a speed of impact of 800 km/h (500 mph).
Although the system appeared to be workable, the project was shut down in 1965, primarily because the Partial Test Ban Treaty made it illegal; in fact, before the treaty, the US and Soviet Union had already separately detonated a combined number of at least nine nuclear bombs, including thermonuclear, in space, i.e., at altitudes of over 100 km ...
In effect each bomb would be a nuclear shaped charge. A bomb with a cylinder of reaction mass expands into a flat, disk-shaped wave of plasma when it explodes. A bomb with a disk-shaped reaction mass expands into a far more efficient cigar-shaped wave of plasma debris. The cigar shape focuses much of the plasma to impinge onto the pusher-plate ...
The Soviet Almaz secret military space station program was equipped with a fixed 23mm autocannon to prevent hostile interception or boarding by hostile forces. [1] This was the first and so far the only space-to-space weapon to be fired in orbit. [2] [better source needed]
After the ban of nuclear weapons in space by the Outer Space Treaty in 1967, nuclear power has been discussed at least since 1972 as a sensitive issue by states. [8] Space nuclear power sources may experience accidents during launch, operation, and end-of-service phases, resulting in the exposure of nuclear power sources to extreme physical conditions and the release of radioactive materials ...
It was launched from Johnston Atoll on July 9, 1962, and was the largest nuclear test conducted in outer space, and one of five conducted by the US in space. A Thor rocket carrying a W49 thermonuclear warhead (designed at Los Alamos Scientific Laboratory ) and a Mk. 2 reentry vehicle was launched from Johnston Atoll in the Pacific Ocean, about ...